Two of baseball's greatest pitchers, future Hall of Famers Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson -- also two of the sport's oldest players at 42 and 44 respectively -- won't be in this year's All-Star game Tuesday night.

But some younger graybeards will be, including soon-to-be-37-year-old Mets reliever Billy Wagner and a bunch of 36-year-olds: Atlanta's Chipper Jones, and Red Sox teammates Manny Ramirez and Jason Varitek.

Which brings to mind, as baseball pauses for the Home Run Derby Monday night and the 79th American League-National League showdown, the immortal words of one of baseball's legends, Leroy "Satchel" Paige. After baseball's color line was broken by Jackie Robinson, Paige pitched for Cleveland's Indians and the old St. Louis Browns until he was 47.

"Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter," Paige said.

No other sport has more stories, more quotes, more quirky terms, more oddities, more trivia, more complicated and technical rules (except for golf) than baseball.

This year's starting catcher for the National League is Geovany Soto of the Chicago Cubs. He hasn't caught a pitch yet, and already he's part of baseball lore.

Why?

He's the first rookie catcher to start an All-Star game for the National League -- and only the second rookie overall, the other being Sandy Alomar Jr. of Cleveland in 1990.

Want more?

They're both from Puerto Rico.

More? Soto will be catching Orleanian and former Crescent City High School pitcher Chad Gaudin, who last week was traded to the Cubs by the Oakland A's.

The infobits never end: There is no clock in baseball. Games are nine innings. Or sometimes 10, 11, 12 or 13 innings. Extra innings, they call them. Long games are another thing they're called.

The longest game in major league history was played in 1984 in the American League between the Chicago White Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers. Eight hours and six minutes -- and 25 innings -- later, the Sox won, 7-6. That's long. And that's a lot of innings.

Speaking of innings, another oddity about baseball is that there isn't an explanation for how the term "inning" became associated with baseball. Baseball writer David Nemec, in his anecdotal "The Rules of Baseball," said that Alexander Cartwright's original playing rules made no mention of innings, and called a team's turn at bat a "hand."

Cartwright, credited with "inventing" the game in 1845, also had a rule stipulating that after one team scored 21 runs, or "aces," a game could not end until an equal number of hands had been played. However, it was common to say that "a nine must be given its innings."

Inning, Nemec observed, also is defined as a period of prosperity or luck, a chance of opportunity for action or accomplishment -- and every team in history has looked to prosper when it comes up to bat.

As for rules, there are two that seem to really baffle fans, because they are either tough to interpret or difficult to remember, or both.

The first is the infield fly rule, which recently was declassified and now can be revealed. An infield fly is not to be confused with an outfield fly. The difference is that there are more infield flies because the infield is closer to the concession stands. Flies like food; it's that simple. They bother the infielders.

Just kidding. The real explanation is: If there are runners on first and second, or first, second and third, with fewer than two outs, and the batter pops up to the infield, the batter automatically is out the minute the umpire shouts, "Infield fly rule!" Runners advance at their own risk. The rule was enacted to prevent an infielder from deliberately dropping the fly ball and then throwing it to a base to begin an easy double play.

The most confusing and misinterpreted rule, though, is the dreaded "balk rule." This involves a pitcher throwing to a base when a runner is on base, either to keep the runner from stealing a base or trying to pick him off. Whenever this happens, all the home team's fans yell "Balk!"

Rule 8.05 is more complicated and longer than the New Orleans City Charter and only slightly more interesting. While on the pitching rubber, if the pitcher throws to a base before or without stepping toward that base, it's a balk. If the pitcher doesn't come to a complete stop while standing on the rubber before throwing the ball, it's a balk.

If the umpire sees these or any of myriad other deceptions that entail a balk, he shouts, "Balk!," and the runner or runners on base advance one base.

Now, does anybody know the different ways a player can reach first base without getting a hit?